Hello, I'm GMing a Legend of Zelda game for a lass who is mad about it. She will be playing as a new Link on his quest to save Hyrule from the invading Ganon.

Pretty simple right? Right, actually. All I want from you guys is ideas for adventures, thoughts and what you think she'll really like to see (I've played Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Wind Waker but nothing else).
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This will be the "true" legend, of the first Link, taking place just after the races have come to peace under the rule of the King. Most of the races are still distrustful of each other and weapons of the war are cheap to buy and find. The Temples of Hyrule are still maintained and people worship the Three Goddesses above all others. Technology is just out of the Dark Ages, with good swords a rare and potent weapon.

I will be using standard D&D creatures and just using them as the monsters of Zelda, eg.
Human, Elf, Half-Elf=Hylian
Goblin, Orc, Ogre=Moblin
A kind of devil with levels=Ganon
~

So far my campaign plot goes like so (ignoring the fact she will wander off the path all the time):

Link is a traveller that never stops any place long, he is a orphan with no knowledge of his parents.

The adventure begins as he and his gypsy friends wander through the Shadow Hall in Kakariko Village, purely for the thrill of sneaking around the forsaken place.

The place has a few antiquated puzzels and traps, but they are easily beaten by the group. After walked through the corridors taking in the strange eye symbols and paintings of unknown figures and places, Link and his fellows hear the clashing of metal on metal, they sprint to the room to find a aging knight fighting a group of hulking moblins that are attempting to steal a chest in the center of the room.

As the knight spots them and as he tells them to flea he is smacked on the back of the head by a moblin's maul. The others run but Link jumps in and picks up the knights blade, defeating the moblins after a lengthy battle.

The knight, Orca, coming 'round, tells Link of his mission to return the mystical Elemental Medallions to the royal family as they, quite rightly, believe someone plans on using them for some evil scheme. He hands his sword to Link, retiring himself from battle, wearily explaining he had never been beaten until this fight and is ashamed. He exclaims he is returning to the Castle Hyrule to ask for his leave.

Link himself opens the chest, inside is not a Medallion, but the Bleeding Eye Pendant. The Pendant glows as it gets near to a Medallion and speaks, very rarely, telling Link confused and out-of-date knowledge of the area he travels through. (A sort of sleepy, elderly, drunk Navi)

The Pendant points south, to Curse Wood...

Ideas so far:

Curse Wood ~ A mix of all Zelda forests with a some twists. As Link travels through the place it is easy to become lost as turning around reveals the landscape changes as you move, the trees seem to crowd behind you as you walk. The big idea is that if you stay in Curse Wood to long, you become part of it. Lost children could be moaning reeds along a pond; an ancient soldier could be part of a tree, his spear becoming a branch and even an eerie set of tired eyes peering out of the ground.
I imagine a tree with a woman stuck in it being surprised to see Link last out against the dark transforming magic this long being flung back as a goron-come-hill lifts its head to see Link.
The reason the wood is so corrupted is a lowly rival of the Deku Tree, the petty Boka Tree, was empowered by Ganon and took over half of the Blessed Forest, making Curse Wood.

Blessed Forest ~ The Deku Tree's forest is a beautiful place that is slowly becoming Curse Wood. Hidden here is the Sacred Grove, housing the Temple of Time, they only Temple without clergy working within it. Instead the Temple has magically animated statues that keep it in good condition, the Armos.

Kakariko Village & the Shadow Hall ~ Once home of the Shiekah, "The Underhand of the King", the assassin-sorcerers have all but vanished since the war's end, some say a pact they made with the King has now ended while others say the King ordered them to leave, feeling that their dark history would ruin his diplomatic reputation. The village has many layers, every house a secret passage way, every closet a skeleton. Currently a few degenerates have taken to the empty houses, selling their finding to the highest bidders.

Death Mountain & the Goron's Citidel ~ Not much to add, but far more fiery than the games, any ideas?

Amateraiko Village & the Bright Tower ~ The opposites to the Shiekah, the Pershii Tribe are the elite knights of the King based in a village just before the lands of the Zora. War heroes and honor-bound, their village is patriotic and orderly. The Bright Tower is were the knights learn how to fight but also keeps much of the lore of Hyrule.

Blue Bastion & the Zora's Domain ~ Nothing yet other than the Zora do not rule all of this area, the Blue Bastion is a land of rivers, lakes and lagoons. Any ideas?

Hyrule City & the Castle Hyrule ~ A city rather than a town, a mix of every Zelda game's main city. The Castle has a Royal Court filled with bickering nobles, a Astral Observatory, a Grand Library, a Laboratory, a Long Garden that has shrines devoted to the Goddesses and a barracks for the soldiers. The Castle and it's city will hopefully become a hub for the game at it's mid-point.

Great Bay & the Patch Cove ~ Just a bay really, Patch Cove will be a pirate themed place. Pirates!

Great Sea ~ The Islands (Wind Waker respek yo)
*Ikana Nation ~ Based on the MM people, but very much alive, hate the Garu
*Garu Nation ~ The Garu ninja clan, hate the Ikana, perhaps Link can make them work together?
*Rito's Nest ~ The Rito will play next to no role in the plot, but they live!
*Republic of Mhooks ~ Good monsters live in a faux-Roman Republic, but dumber :smallbiggrin:
*O' Sunken Kasuto ~ Talked about by poets, no one knows if it ever existed
*Angular Isle ~ The Isles are just stopping points with puzzels and prizes
*Overlook Isle
*Deeproot Isle ~ Leads, somehow, into Curse Wood
*Backbone Isle
*Arrowhead Isle
*Monsoon Isle
*Whisper Isle
*Island of the Elements [Lava Quarter, Frost Quarter, Gale Quarter, Steel Quarter]

Character Ideas:

The King ~ Great tactician and ambassador, he now mourns the loss of his wife to illness and never leaves his chambers.
Zelda ~ Proud, beautiful, untouchable and dominating in public, she is holding the new kingdom of Hyrule together with a quick wit and keen mind. In private she is a tom-boy falling apart under the pressure, to relieve herself she sometimes escapes the castle walls in the guise of a boy named Adlez.
Ganon ~ The man from afar, a great leader himself, he has become the Kings greatest friend after the death of the Queen. He secretly plots not only the death of the heavily guarded king, but a return to the war, where his people were powerful and prosperous weapon sellers and thieves of the corpses that littered the battlefields. He also, ever power hungry, learned of the Medallions and yearns for their power.
Beedle, Guru-Guru, Malon, Talon, ect. ~ Characters from the game make up Link's gypsy gang. After Link begins his quest they continue wandering, meeting and helping him through the adventure.

The Happy Mask Salesman ~ A "ex-Shiekah" if one can be such a thing, he is a very poten sorcerer, perhaps their best. Any thoughts?, I want him in :smallredface:

Well, I don't have any tips for the campaign but I do have a few Zelda themed homebrews that you may find useful: Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71681)
Actually, I'd like to see how this game turns out. I'm rather interested.

Lairship

2008-03-15, 05:27 PM

Well, I don't have any tips for the campaign but I do have a few Zelda themed homebrews that you may find useful: Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71681)
Actually, I'd like to see how this game turns out. I'm rather interested.

Thanks for the link, I'll have a look at it now. If your interested maybe I'll make a thread detailing the campaign. :smallamused:

Overall I think it could be better great, I'm no writer but this seems to be writting itself, makes me wonder why the real thing has never had a complex story, it all seems to fit together so easily.

Any views on characters? What do you tihnk of my Zelda idea? You never get to see her run the country, that could be neat.

hylian chozo

2008-03-15, 06:04 PM

You're right, we never have seen Zelda lead Hyrule before. I like the idea, but isn't the King still alive in this campaign? Unless you plan on Ganon succeeding in getting rid of the King and Zelda taking control (fun plot twist!). Aldez is a nice idea but Zelda already has two alter ego's (Sheik and Tetra), one of which is male.

As for the other characters, Beedle should get some useful stuff every once in a while and sell it to Link at a discount. As a side-quest he may be possessed by some evil item that requires Link to save him. If you're feeling nice, have Link purify the item and keep it (as another side-quest). Maybe the bleeding eye knows something about it?

Talon and Malon have some family secret of how to make healing milk (I'd use a potion of cure light wounds and go from there). If Link gets defeated (maybe as part of the plot), he wakes up at the ranch fully healed.

Lairship

2008-03-15, 06:17 PM

The King is still alive, and potent when motivated, later in the adventure I might have her use bluff and diplomacy on him to make him leave his quarters, succeeding or failing in that social incounter will mean a lot!
But at the start of the adventure his wife has just died, leaving him feeling a bit defeated and weak. Zelda is sorta standing in for him.

As for Zelda have a alter ego, I know its been done but she'd be annoyed if Zelda didn't have one. :smallwink: